Rip Van Wasteland
by vmheckman
Summary: She came into the Wasteland when she was only twelve years old. No family, no friends, no means of safety and security. She has some vague memories of living in a Vault, but that's it. Now a full-grown adult, how will the Hunter fare in Post-Apocalyptia?
1. Prologue

**Hunting Grounds**

The alarm on her Pip Boy went off. The radio station was set to the Enclave and one of its German hymns

The Hunter moaned as she sat up in the abandoned bed.

 _Ugh… My bones feel like they haven't moved for twenty years…_

She groaned as she remembered she was short on supplies. She hated having to make her way through the Vault's tunnels and back up to the surface. She had as much disdain for that as a kid not wanting to go to school. But it was either get out and get food, or starvation.

 _Maybe I'll find some snack cakes this time. Or, better yet, maybe some giant mole rats._

Fully clothed, she got her boots on, grabbed her gun, and made her way through the halls and up the various flights of stairs.

The place was drab and rusty, still with furniture and the like in shambles and various papers littering the floor. She had been living there a while, a few years at least. She could make time to tidy up a bit. But what for? It's not like she was ever going to have guests around here. Not to mention the Vault was so expansive, as if it could ever be pristine if she tried.

She stepped out through the Vault's main entrance and kicked aside a tin can. As long as she could make her way through it she should be fine.

Once outside, the Hunter trekked across the barren, grassless plain, surveying her surroundings. But as soon as her eye caught the shape of some kind of structure she kneeled on the ground like a lion trying to conceal itself in tall grass.

A charred skeleton of a house up ahead, decorated with chains and body parts on hooks, and other such gruesome trinkets.

The Hunter could see the armored people who no doubt cultivated those remains of a shelter. Raiders, with their ridiculous haircuts and spiked armor that only served to cover the lower halves of their bodies, leaving their shoulders and heads completely vulnerable. As usual, there was only three of them. They always come in threes.

 _Dirty savages…_ the Hunter thought. _They kill not out of survival but for the sheer fun of it._ She lied flat on the ground and reached for her hunting rifle. A wicked grin curled on her face. _Well, I can play that game, too…_

She pulled the trigger and soon the first Raider's head was blown into chunks of bone and blood.

 _Now that's odd. I'm quite certain these bullets aren't explosive…_

Before the second Raider, a female with punk hair, could figure out where that shot had come from she got a bullet right between the eyes. The third one had spotted the Hunter, and just as he grabbed for his knife and started running in the Hunter's direction he got shot in the thigh.

 _That ought to slow him down_ , the Hunter thought as she reloaded.

The Raider barely had time to decide if he should run for it or kill the assailant, because the millisecond that he realized he was in a losing battle his eye had been shot out.

The Hunter let out a satisfied sigh. "My bullet punishes all without distinction."


	2. Chapter 1

**The Vault**

She couldn't remember much about her life before she came into the Wasteland.

As far as she was concerned she was always Rip Van Winkle, and she was always a displaced child of the Wastes.

She had some vague memory of living in a Vault similar to Vault 106, though she was never sure if it was a memory or a drug-induced dream.

When she had first arrived in Vault 106 a few years ago, still not even eighteen at the time, she kept seeing a dark-haired man in a lab coat walking through the tunnels.

There was a part of her that said this man was familiar to to her, even a part of her mind that said this was her father. And like Alice following the White Rabbit she followed him and ventured further down.

But towards the bottom of the Vault this man with the tangled mess of black hair had transformed into a monster. A hideous inhuman creature that looked like a chimera made up of a human and a prehistoric animal. It still had the black hair nearly concealing its face like a veil, and it looked at her with a wicked grin like it was about to bite her head off and rip her torso open with its massive clawed hands.

She froze in fear. It looked like something that crawled out of the depths of Hell itself.

It lunged and swung at her as she braced herself for the worst, but instead of getting sliced open she was struck by a blunt object. Sounded like a pipe, but it still hurt.

She opened her eyes to see it was actually a person. A local Vault Dweller.

He prepared to take another swing at her with his lead pipe but she backed away, reached for her hunting rifle, and shot at his head.

She was met by more of them, just as insane and homicidal. It was like being beset by a pack of mad dogs; the only way to live was to kill them first.

After they were dealt with and things had calmed down she discovered the office and the old computer of the former Overseer of this Vault. Apparently hallucinogenic drugs had been released through the filtration system here as part of some kind of experiment. She felt a little bad for the Vault Dwellers she had just slain, since that was probably why they had gone mad. And that certainly explained how she saw the man in the lab coat transforming into a hideous monster.

She ventured further and further down to see if they had any supplies she could take with her and leave, like maybe the medical facilities had some blood packs she could use, but she continually received visions. This Vault was old and rusted, but she kept seeing images of a Vault pristine and clean, with functioning fluorescent lighting and all. And it evoked a strange feeling of nostalgia.

It was like walking through a dream of a memory. Was it ever real or was it a creation of her subconscious?

But then she heard an alarm blaring, and panic set in.

Guards came in from another room and shouted, "There she is!"

Normally this would be where she reached for her firearm to fight off her attackers, but this time she was running away. And it occurred to her that the guards seemed taller than usual. Had she just become shorter?

As she was running up a nearby stairwell she grabbed the railing as if holding on for dear life and shut her eyes tight. She caught her breath and made herself wake up. When she opened her eyes again she found herself in the old rusted Vault again. She was relieved, but she knew that feeling of helplessness and panic.

* * *

That ungodly screech of a Vault door being opened (or was it being closed shut?) was the first thing she could consciously remember.  
The second thing she remembered was a near-blinding light as she found herself in the Wasteland, as if the earth itself had just given birth to her.

Rip Van Winkle. That was the first name that came to mind. The story about a man who had slept for twenty years. She herself had to be no more than twelve, so she figured that name suited her in that situation.

No memory of who she was or how she came to be there.

All she knew was she was just a kid, with no means of protection aside from a BB gun. She wasn't dressed for exploring the Wasteland either. A white blouse with a lavender sweater, a navy blue skirt that went past her knees, some socks and saddle shoes; it made her look like she just came from a sock hop that had to be interrupted for some kind of emergency escape.

(She hoped that was the case, otherwise it would just be incredibly stupid to venture out into the wastes with little to no means of preparation.)

Although she quickly discovered that she at least had a Pip Boy, a wrist-mounted device that allowed her to access the radio, record a map or take inventory of her supplies.

And as of this point she had very little in terms of food and medical supplies.

She looked at her map and there was information about where she was. Apparently she stood at the entrance for Vault 101. She considered turning around and asking its inhabitants questions, but something urged her to stay away from there, that nothing but life-threatening danger awaited her inside.

There was nowhere to move but forward, so she strapped her BB gun to her back and made her way down the dirt hill, looking less like a soldier and more like a child wandering an abandoned playground.

Curiously, she found herself humming the tune to Happy Birthday, and it made her sad.


	3. Chapter 2

**Scavenger**

Rip Van Winkle searched the pockets and pouches of the Raiders she had just slain.

The sun was particularly bright this afternoon; it was giving her a splitting headache. They had to have some aspirin or something on them.

The female Raider had a blood pack.

 _That will do. Perhaps a bit of rehydration will help_.

She tore off the end and drank it down like it was a juice pack.

Rip took a seat on the ground and opened up a worn parasol that she always kept with her gun. She thought back to when she first drank blood. Considering sunlight gave her headaches and she hated having to go out for her own supplies, why didn't she just stay in the tunnels with that colony of vampires?

 _Actually, that's a very good question,_ she thought. _Why didn't I just stay with them?_

She recalled the leader of this vampire colony was a rather dapper fellow who sported a beige suit and a hat, not to mention a thin mustache. In fact, she remembered he also sported one hell of a tan for an alleged vampire.

 _How long ago was that?_ she thought.

But trying to remember it clearly was like trying to walk through a fog with literally the same consistency as pea soup.

Besides, she couldn't think about that for long because she was hit with another noticeable spell of discomfort.

 _Damned sunlight. So much for nuclear winter._

She had better continue on for supplies, or at least find some real shade before she got a heatstroke.

* * *

A child of the Wastes…

Upon venturing out into the world, young Rip Van Winkle began by salvaging and taking shelter in whatever abandoned homes she could find, whatever ones had functioning doors that she could close at night.

The first time she came across a human corpse was definitely a jarring experience. (Later on she would learn it was the body of a Raider.) Not to mention it was in the first abandoned house she was staying in.

Successfully managing to suppress her disgust and horror, she dragged said body out and took the house for herself. She also found a proper hunting rifle on this guy, so that helped. At least now she had a real weapon to defend herself with.

She found enough food in the fridge to last her a day or two. Unfortunately these snack cakes and canned ham had been irradiated, according to the geiger counter on her Pip Boy. But she was so hungry it would have to do.

After she ate her fill she braced herself for getting sick in some way or another. Surprisingly as she slept on the couch that night she wasn't disturbed in any way by any kind of illness.

Also up in one of the bedrooms she found a first aid kit that had these medicines called Rad-X and Radaway. The former were these capsules that temporarily boosts the consumer's resistance to radiation, and the latter minimizes any affects of radiation poisoning. She wasn't totally sick yet so she saved those for later.

When this house ran out of food she decided to move on. It was a few hours before the sun would rise, so she chose to take advantage of the cool air while she still could. Without the sun blaring down upon her, any light breeze was surprisingly soothing.

Somehow she hadn't noticed before that this house was part of a whole deserted residential neighborhood, abandoned cars and all. She could raid the fridges around here too before moving on.

But on the cracked remains of a road she noticed a peculiar red light. She treaded carefully and slowly until she could see something that looked like a functioning smoke detector just lying on the ground.

She couldn't be too sure what it was, though she had her suspicions. She took ten steps back and found her BB gun again. She fired a shot and there was a small explosion.

Rip was right. It was a land mine.

Not long after that she heard something that was like the muted sound of a bullet ricocheting, and she saw that one of the abandoned cars was in flames.

Following the basic instinct of "fire bad", she ran away from the car as far as she could before she heard an even louder explosion. And this time she felt the impact and it caused her to trip.

 _WHAT THE HELL?!_ She could feel those words jump up her chest and into her throat, but they never moved past her lips.

She glanced back for a moment and it was indeed that car that exploded. Somehow it had been set like a bomb and all it took was a shot to its gas tank.

 _HOW THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!_ she thought.

She scrambled back up and kept running. She wasn't going to stay to find out.


	4. Chapter 3

**Prey**

Rip Van Winkle decided it was time to move on. She could only stay in the same abandoned Vault and hunt for groceries for so long. At the very least she should find a new temporary home with a stocked refrigerator. Or, better yet, maybe a subway tunnel infested by mole rats so she could eat for a month.

It took her a couple days of travel, with some annoying interludes with Raiders and Feral Ghouls getting in her way, but she finally found a place to stay, at least for a little while.

About a mile in the distance she saw a tall building, at least ten stories high. Unlike other war-torn buildings which were gray and rotted-looking, this one had a yellow coloring to it, like the rock formations in pre-war books about national parks. It was also well-kept, with walls and corners that had some repairs. As she got closer she saw that it was surrounded by a concrete wall. No doubt there had to be some decent security.

She could only imagine this would be the sort of place that was cool on the inside with some comfortable beds. If the war had never happened, this would only be the sort of place where they would leave a mint or a chocolate on your pillow.

She checked her Pip Boy to see if there was a name for this establishment. Tenpenny Tower. Sounds swanky.

* * *

Since she escaped from the booby-trapped neighborhood, young Rip had found herself becoming more scared and timid about being in the Wastes.

Every time she saw another life form her first instinct was to hide. Stay out of their sight.

Her first encounter with the Brotherhood of Steel was particularly frightening. People in powered suits of armor that looked like robots, the kind that set out to destroy mankind in science fiction stories.

They actually spotted her before she had the chance to hide behind the counter of a demolished diner. She could hear their footsteps as they got closer.

"Just a civilian," one of them stated. "Move along."

And so they continued on their way.

She remembered being so relieved. They didn't help her, but at least they didn't try to hurt her.

The first time she had to hunt an animal for food it was a matter of desperation. She had run out of potato chips and who knew if there would be a next time when she found another well-stocked fridge.

Not too far from where she was she saw a trio of giant mole rats. Ugly things, but their meat would have to do.

The first shot, which took out the first one with in a single hit, alarmed the other two and they pursued her. She fired more shots at them, trying to keep herself from panicking as they got closer.

Once all three of them were dead she let out a sigh of relief. About a third of those shots missed, but at least she got them before they could bite her.

But then there was her very first encounter with Raiders.

It was the dead of night; she couldn't sleep because she was all too hungry, so she had to make an emergency trip for supplies or for prey.

And she came across who she would soon learn were victims of Raiders. A caravan; the salesperson, a guard, and their mutated two-headed cow acting as their pack mule.

All three of them had been attacked in the most brutal way possible, and the carnage alone nearly made her throw up.

It had to have been the work of humans because the cuts were made too clean to be the work of a feral creature. They looked more akin to cattle in a shoddy butcher shop. It was just too awful that anyone would do this to a person.

But then she heard a moan.

She looked up and the female guard was still alive. For now. Her legs had been cut off and she had already lost a lot of blood. She probably didn't have much longer to live as it is.

Rip knelt down beside her and the guard finally noticed the girl's presence.

"Please…" the woman whispered through bouts of blood. "Let me die…"

She no longer had a firm grip on her handgun, so she nudged it in Rip's direction, indicating she was to put her out of her misery.

Rip was horrified at the idea. "No…" She felt the tears build up in her eyes. She took old of the guard's hand. She wanted to say that there was hope, that there was a doctor nearby, that maybe she had a chance.

Oh, how badly she wanted to say that was true, but with as much blood as the guard lost there was no chance of her survival, even if Rip were to carry her on her back to the nearest place with a bed and first aid kit.

She wished so badly it didn't have to come to this.

She took the gun. She trembled all over as she cocked it.

She took aim for the woman's head, and she couldn't stop the tears. She couldn't take it. She turned her head away, and fired.

She fell to the ground and sobbed harder than she ever had before.

And no doubt her crying caught the attention of the last people she wanted to see: the trio of killers themselves. Raiders.

The tears were still streaming down her face, but this time Rip wasn't going anywhere. She stood back up despite some imbalance, gripped the handgun more and more firmly in her hand until it started shaking again.

"Well, lookie here!" one of the Raiders teased. "A poor lost little princess. Oh, don't worry, little-"

Before he could condescend any further, or make any real threats, she had already shot him in the face. There was a real fire in her eyes.

"DIE!" She fired repeatedly at the second one. Got the him right in the throat, as well as made several holes in his shoulders. "DIE!" The third Raider freaked out and turned tail. "GOD IN HEAVEN, DIE!"

The third Raider didn't get far before she was shot multiple times in the legs and torso.

Rip reloaded the gun and checked if they were still alive. Fortunately not, so she didn't have to waste any more bullets on them.

She had never felt angrier in her entire life. It was like a monster in her had finally come unleashed.

She took what supplies she could use from the Raiders, who had already picked the caravan clean of their items. But for the caravan she made a quick burial for them. She had no idea who they were, but they sure as hell didn't deserve to suffer the way they did. The Raiders, on the other hand, could be left for the dogs.

Rip marched on to find shelter, and she was realizing for the first time in her live just how much bile and hatred she was carrying with her.


	5. Chapter 4

**Tenpenny Tower**

As Rip got closer to the building, the more pristine it appeared. At least, as pristine as you could get in the Capital Wasteland. Already she pondered about the upkeep of a place like this, and that they must have the best damn service you could find anywhere.

She meandered around the outer wall just sort of admiring it when she finally came to the front of the building. The outer wall entrance. And standing there was a Ghoul.

Ghouls in the Capital Wasteland looked like zombies but they still functioned rather well as humans. And for some particular reason, not only were they able to withstand ungodly amounts of radiation, but they were practically immortal themselves in that they hardly aged.

This Ghoul (a female one) seemed fairly fit, like she could punch out a dozen men without breaking a sweat. She was dressed in military gear and what faded orange hair she had on her head had been cut short. She looked about ready to go to war anytime now.

Even though she had the standard Ghoulish condition of half-decayed skin, Rip noticed that on the right half of the Ghoul's body were these intricate tattoos. It must have taken days to complete all of them.

"I have more than enough caps, you fool!" the Ghoul yelled through the intercom in a German accent.

As Rip sort of hovered around she overheard the intercom reply, "We already told you, no zombies!"

The Ghoul growled. She looked like she was about ready to actually punch that intercom in lieu of punching the person speaking. But she refrained from doing so and instead put a cigarette to her mouth.

"Very well. Just you all wait." The Ghoul turned to leave and she finally noticed Rip acting as a spectator to this confrontation. "What are YOU looking at?!" The Ghoul stormed away.

Despite the Ghoul being so pissy, Rip kept her eye on her as she left. She seemed to be heading towards the entrance to a subway tunnel when Rip's train of thought was rudely interrupted.

"What do YOU want?" This time a person was yelling through the front gates. An armed guard dressed in what looked like leftover military armor.

By then Rip had already gotten the picture. "Would five hundred caps satisfy the entrance fee?" she suggested with a grin.

The guard grinned right back. "And you're not a zombie. Good enough for me."

 _I knew those years of bottle cap collecting would eventually pay off…_ Rip thought to herself as the metal gate opened up.

Some time ago when she began life as a hunter, something Rip noticed quite quickly was that a lot of people were carrying bottle caps from old soda bottles. It would have been one thing if only one, maybe two people had some kind of fixation with them. But when just about every other Raider or shot down caravan had a small surplus of them then there had to be something special about them.

And, as she often suspected, they were Wasteland currency. The thought of it made her chuckle. It was like a child's idea of currency. What fun!

She paid her fee (still with caps to spare), and made her way through the building's main doors.

And her assumption was right. As soon as she walked into the building the air was unbelievably cool and refreshing.

It seemed Tenpenny Tower was made from what was left of a five-star hotel. Despite the years of post-war decay the lobby was nicely polished, and up on the second floor landing she could see some of the well-dressed tenants walking about, all wearing undamaged pre-war attire. She looked to the sides and there was a sort of dining hall and a utilities shop, with a doctor's office on the second floor. Should she be allowed to stay she would have enough food and medical supplies to last for a long time.

Behind her the guard was speaking into his walkie-talkie, but she was enjoying the atmosphere of this place too much to notice.

"Hmm?" the guard said. There was a muffled sound from the person on the other end and he said, "Yes, sir. It's her." There was another muffled command. "Right away." He grasped Rip's shoulder, breaking her out of her joyous daze, and said, "The boss wants to meet you on the top floor. Take the elevator," he instructed as he pointed to said elevator that stood opposite of the entrance.

Rip didn't stop to ask why, her head was still somewhat in the clouds. But she did as she was instructed and she didn't realize how lightheaded she was until she was inside the elevator. Maybe it was hunger. Or thirst. She hadn't had any blood in a long time.

The elevator rang as it reached the top floor.

The doors opened and as she stepped into the hall there stood a short, chubby fellow with blonde hair, glasses, a garish red suit, and a permanent demented smile on his face. He looked like a Cheshire Cat, but much more insane and far less trustworthy.

"Ah, Rip Van Winkle! Hunter of the Wastes! So wonderful to finally meet you!" he declared as he eagerly shook her hand. He seemed to have a German accent too, and he sounded just as manic as he appeared.

"Wait, how did you-"

"Oh, you'd be surprised just how fast word spreads throughout the Wasteland. Like a spider trapping mosquitos, you don't know how much of a favor you do for the rest of us when you shoot those cretins." He walked into one of the rooms and she followed. A very posh bedroom suite with a canopy bed, no doubt his own room.

He stepped out onto the balcony as he continued, "Of course, I haven't actually travelled the Wasteland in years, and why would I need to?" His eyes seemed to widen as if his insanity just went up a couple points. "Oh, where are my manners? You may call me the Major."

He walked over to a bucket full of ice and next to a bottle of wine there was a blood pack. He squeezed its contents into a wine glass and handed it to Rip.

As he opened the bottle of wine for himself Rip found herself sniffing the blood as if trying to detect if it was poisoned, even though she just saw him tear open the blood pack. She may have been incredibly thirsty but she wasn't going to deny how fishy this really was.

Once the Major poured himself some white wine he declared, "A toast to finally making your acquaintance." He raised his glass and added, "A vampire with aim so impeccable it is said that your bullets are magic."

Their glasses clinked and they drank.

Rip shook her head to get herself to wake up a little. This was her first sip of blood in about two weeks. Not since that last batch of Raiders she hunted down.

"You never mentioned what it is that _you_ do," said Rip. "I take it you're the owner of this place. Tenpenny Tower, yes?"

"Yes, it was left to me by a good friend of mine, Alastair Tenpenny. Sadly, my friend had a run-in with a disgruntled Ghoul and took a sniper shot to the head. Old feuds between former colleagues, you know. But enough about that. There is a reason I'm so glad to have you here."

"Yes, I did find it quite odd that you wanted to see me right away, Herr Major. Especially since I had to pay hefty admission just to get in."

"Ah, yes. You understand the necessity. Such gleaming upkeep doesn't pay for itself. However, not only can you get your admission fee refunded, but you can take up residency right here in the Tower. You see, I have a vacant suite right here on this floor, and it's yours if you can eliminate…" He pointed in the distance to what looked like titanic sheets of metal sticking out of the ground like a cluster of crystals. "… that. The town of Megaton."

"Megaton?"

"Yes. It blocks my view of the Potomac. I want it to be cleared out. And I don't mean just the residents being eliminated. I want the entire thing destroyed."

Rip was already taking this task into consideration.

"Now, I know what you're thinking. 'I can't physically clear out a town without bulldozers and a wrecking ball at my disposal.' Well, that is the best part. The settlement isn't called 'Megaton' for nothing. It's settled around an unexploded, and still potentially armed nuclear bomb. If someone were to rig that thing it would be enough to clear out Megaton for good. All those ugly metal houses and walls, kaput!"

Rip didn't say anything. The drink still had not revitalized her senses.

Leaning on the balcony railing, she tried to think it over. She tried to find some kind of argument against doing it but it felt as though the smallest statement against it kept escaping her grasp, like a fruit that hung on a tall tree branch.

Besides, all she could think of were the luxuries this place had. A safe place to settle, plenty of supplies, not to mention a place that could afford to be cleaned regularly.

 _Hmm… Blowing things up instead of just shooting it._ The very thought of it made her grin devilishly. "Sounds like fun."


	6. Chapter 5

**Megaton**

Rip made another trek through the Wasteland on her way to Megaton. She had been given a detonation device to attach to the bomb when she got there. The plan was after she attached it she would return to Tenpenny and then they would blow up the town with a clear view from the Major's balcony.

Before she left she had signed a contract with him. If she accomplished this mission the vacant suite on the top floor would be hers.

The town of Megaton was indeed surrounded by large, sturdy sheets of metal, not unlike the outer wall of Tenpenny.

The gate entrance was mechanized and opened with the remains of jet engines.

 _These people are dangerously trusting. Are they not going to ask for my identification or something?_

She stepped into this ramshackle compound and she was met by two people who appeared to be dressed in religious garb. They were about the same age as her, though maybe a little younger, one dressed as a priest and the other dressed as a nun.

The priest had short blonde hair and a pair of spectacles, with handguns holstered beneath the priest's coat. It was actually a little hard to tell if this person was actually male or a female in men's clothes. The nun was as deathly pale as Rip and had long dark hair that shrouded her face. She looked to be of Asian descent, and she was well-armed with a katana.

"Welcome to Megaton," said the priest in a German accent. Even when the priest spoke it was hard to tell if the person was male or female. "I am Heinkel Wolfe, and this is my associate Yumiko."

The nun merely nodded her head; she was so stoic it was almost frightening.

Rip glanced behind them and could see the megaton bomb in question, right there in the very center of the town. It was huge, with its nose buried in the ground and surrounded by a small pond of irradiated water. A congregation of people were gathered around it and kneeling in prayer.

Heinkel went on with introductions, something about this being a safe haven and that they expect guests not to stir up any trouble, but Rip was too astounded that people would actually worship that thing. Do they have any idea how dangerous that thing is?

She had to stop Heinkel's little speech. "Pardon me for interrupting, but how exactly did Megaton get started as a town? I mean, it couldn't have been a fantastic idea to create an entire settlement around an unexploded nuclear bomb."

"That's a blunt way to put it," Heinkel replied, irritated at Rip's demeanor. "Megaton was actually founded in a sandstorm. Some settlers sought shelter in the crater created by the impact of the bomb, and after the sandstorm passed the settlement was built around it.

"Yumiko and I were assigned here by our employer. In a way you could say I'm the mayor, and Yumiko is the sheriff."

Just then Yumiko flashed a sharp glare at Rip, as if giving a silent warning not to mess with her.

"Foolish as it may sound," Heinkel continued, "people refuse to leave because they see no immediate danger with the bomb. It has remained dormant for decades thus far, so there's little cause for alarm. In fact, those parishioners that you see back there believe that the bomb is a symbol of mercy because it hasn't detonated. Believe us, when we were first assigned here we wanted to get the local engineers to disarm the thing but the locals-" Heinkel then suddenly was distracted by something behind Rip. "Oh, begging your pardons." Heinkel walked past her, greeting another guest.

Before Yumiko could join her partner, she approached Rip and said, "Trust us, we've tried to persuade these people to move but they prefer the slim chances of the bomb going off over the chance of encountering more Raiders. Even if they have a far better chance at surviving a Raider encounter…" And so the nun joined her friend in the welcoming party.

It didn't matter. Rip felt she got all the information about this place that she needed.

She did a quick walkabout of the town, surveying if there was anything worth keeping. There were numerous small houses, mostly comprised of single folk or married couples. Plenty of well-stocked fridges, but she wouldn't need to worry about that anymore with a place like Tenpenny.

Apparently Megaton also had its own pawn shop and medical facility, and an inn as well with a Ghoul as a bartender.

The very presence of a Ghoul citizen actually had her considering sparing the town, until she saw the way the bartender interacted with his employer. She got the overall impression that this Ghoul was employed more so as a slave or manservant as opposed to an employee, so it there wasn't really any equal opportunities for Ghouls here. Didn't seem that much better from Tenpenny's own No Ghouls Allowed rule.

She thought MAYBE she could spare the town, but every time she glanced at that huge bomb, the more and more she wanted to see what it looked like when it blew up.

Besides, an atomic explosion should be quick and painless. Ever since that run-in with the slaughtered caravan she always made it her goal to never leave her prey suffering.

Then again, she thought maybe she could have some fun before she blew up the town. Maybe tonight she could claim Megaton as temporary hunting grounds. Kill as many residents as she could before she's found out, then return to Tenpenny and blow up the town.

She found an opportunity to prepare the detonation device when nobody was standing around the bomb. The congregation of worshippers had gone off to get something to eat, and she attached the device in a place where it was well hidden in shadows. It looked like a remora fish attached to the side of a shark. Fortunately its design was inconspicuous enough that it practically blended in with the rest of the bomb. And it was wired in a way that it couldn't be removed if it had been found.

Rip walked up to the balcony railing outside the inn and overlooked the town. Her job was pretty much done, but she strongly considered that hunting ground option before leaving. Maybe stay the night at the inn and surprise them at the crack of dawn...

But then something caught her eye that practically caused a violent shock to her senses.

A child. No, two of them. A boy and a girl, no older than twelve.

And Rip found herself close to passing out. She fell to the ground, but she still held herself up using her gun like a cane.

"Are you okay, Miss?" the girl asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." Rip got back on her feet, but she suddenly didn't feel well.

Rip walked back inside and paid for one night's stay at the inn. (She was offered the services of a female prostitute who worked there but she politely turned it down. She wasn't in the mood for any kind of company.)

* * *

That was the worst night sleep she had in years.

Rip thought this mission was going to be fun. Explosions on a massive scale.

But those children.

The thought of those children dying along with everyone else made her physically ill. On more than one occasion she got out of bed thinking she was going to vomit.

It was around three AM now. In her sleep deprived delirium she knew there was only one way to take the weight off.

In the room's desk she found sheets of paper and a pencil. She must have written on over a dozen sheets, but they were all the same message.

 _"In three days that bomb is going to go off. Please vacate the premises if you value your lives. This is an order."_

She sneaked out of the inn while it was still dark. Fortunately there didn't seem to be anybody out yet, except maybe the guard at the entrance watch tower, but his attention was focused outside of Megaton to be aware of intruders.

With all these crude eviction notices, she crept around the town and slipped them under every door of every house or store she could find.

And so half the weight was taken off of her. If they chose not to heed this warning that would be their own fault.

Rip just hoped the families of those children took it seriously…

She went back to her room at the inn to retrieve her things. Now would probably be a good time to leave. Before anyone saw the notices and could suspect her.

Well, hunt maybe one human before she left. And she knew exactly which one she wanted to kill.

She hid in the corner of the innkeeper's office, and when he sat down at his computer she shot him in the back of the head.

Checking for any loot on him, she glanced at his computer which he was fully logged into. It looked like it was his journal, the last entry being just a few days ago.

It read:

 _"That freaky guy in red came around again. He looked like he hadn't bathed in months, his hair still looks like black cobwebs. He said something about hitting up that Wild Geese News Radio station. Frankly I don't give a f***, I was just glad when he left. That f***er gives me the creeps. A man that pale can't be healthy._

 _"Though he did have a moment of not being creepy. It was weird, it was like he turned into a whole different guy. He looked like he was delirious or half his brain had gone, but he said something about leaving someone behind, how he felt bad about it. He didn't say who it was, but guessing by how sort of sad he looked I bet it was his kid. Or maybe an adopted kid or something. I don't know._

 _"I wouldn't have minded if he was more like that all the time, easier to coax into buying some drugs or spending the night with Ivy. But I was glad when he finally left already."_

Suddenly that image of the man in the lab coat returned to her. But now in red. Could that have been him? Was he real? Was he the same guy?

But Rip didn't have much time left to dwell on such things. She slipped out the back door and made her way out of Megaton.


	7. Chapter 6

**Atomic Hellfire**

It actually took her four days to get back to Tenpenny Tower. Fortunately since she was a guest of honor for the Major she didn't have to pay admittance this time.

As much as she was somewhat used to traveling the Wasteland, at this point all she could think of was a soft, comfortable, hopefully clean bed that awaited her in that suite.

She met up with the Major on the top floor balcony.

"Is it done?" he asked. "Is the bomb ready for detonation?"

"Yes, sir!" she assured with a smile.

Over the days of travel she had managed to bury her feelings of guilt about blowing up the town. Well, most of them. There was still a corner of her mind that hoped the children got out, but she couldn't dwell on that now. If their families hadn't packed up and left by now it was their own fault.

The Major opened up a suitcase that had a sort of remote control in the very center and set it on top of a stool.

"Care to do the honors?" he offered with that Cheshire Cat grin of his.

"No, I insist," said Rip. "It was your brilliant idea."

The Major let out a delighted noise. "You're right."

And he pressed the big button on the remote with his thumb.

With about a full second delay, there was an enormous explosion in the distance that engulfed about a quarter of the horizon to the north.

Rip vaguely remembered seeing old film reels of what an atomic explosion looks like. She never expected she'd actually be able to see one. Apparently they're not kidding when folks call them "mushroom clouds". The neck of the explosion had this shape and this texture to it that made Rip think that's what the very walls of Hell itself must look like.

 _And that's where I'll be going…_ her mind began lamenting. She found herself feeling faint and lightheaded again, but not enough to call too much attention upon herself.

The explosion began to settle, and the Major declared, "Come! I must show you that room I promised you!"

He escorted her through the hall and unlocked a big wooden door that stood on the other side of where the elevator opened up.

He swung the door open and the room looked just like a luxurious hotel room, despite the cracks of age in the walls, floor and ceiling. There was a wardrobe at the other end, and in the middle was a large clean bed perfect for a newly married couple.

Rip stepped inside and the Major said, "In case you're interested, I have another assignment I'd like you to do for me. But I bet you'd like to rest first so I'll just leave you to it." He shut the door as he left.

Rip set her things at the foot of the bed stand and she plopped herself on the bed. It really was as soft and comfortable as it had looked. Smelled like clean sheets too, or at least as clean as you can get given lack of cleaning resources.

She could almost fall asleep save for that guilty part of her brain that remained awake. She wanted it to just stop it but it wouldn't relent. Unless she knew for sure that those children got out of Megaton before it blew up… But it was too late. Whatever evidence there was that they stayed or left, it was all gone now. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Eventually that nagging part of her mind finally faded away and she could get some sleep. But even then her mind kept drifting back to something else. That news of the creepy fellow in red. Was he the guy in the lab coat that she hallucinated? She couldn't stop thinking about that's who it had to be.

But why? It could have been any guy with messy black hair. But then why did her gut feeling urge her to find that out?

And what was that place he was heading? Something about a radio station?

There was a knock on the door that brought her out of her sleep trance.


	8. Chapter 7

**Grayditch**

"My next assignment for you has to do with a little place called Grayditch. It's this town that lies not too far away from where Megaton… USED to be. It's just the strangest thing. It's an abandoned town but no one knows WHY it's abandoned. All the buildings are still intact, you would think there would be settlers there. I just want you to go investigate it. If there are any survivors, just record them. There's no need to resort to violence. However I won't hold it against you if, say, you have to kill them before they kill you. Yes?"

Those were the orders issued by the Major. At this point Rip was already approaching the outskirts of Grayditch. The dehydration was already getting to her. On the way up she had to settle for whatever passed for blood in some giant bloat flies that attacked her. Annoying things…

She came to a cracked road that led into Grayditch. As with just about all other structures in the Wasteland the town was charred and decayed, but she saw nothing else unusual about it.

But in the distance in between some building she spotted something moving. Whatever it was it almost blended into the street.

She crouched down, hoping that whatever it was it would show up again.

And instead something crawled through the street just across from her. A giant ant.

Already Rip's spine shivered at the sight of it. Even when those things are as big as dogs they still give a person that uncomfortable creepy-crawling feeling.

She loaded her hunting rifle. So, unless these things were sentient, odds were pretty good that they posed a threat.

She had encountered giant ants before, back in her earlier days as a scavenger. Like radroaches and bloat flies they were an excellent source of meat.

She shot the nearest critter right in the left eye.

As expected it attracted the attention of its companions. She backed away as she reloaded.

Just as she was about to take aim again the nearest ant breathed fire between its jaws.

Literal. Fire ants.

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

She stayed back to avoid getting burned, but she could still feel the fire's heat. It actually made her more anxious as she fired more shots and killed them.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Any more of you little bastards?!"

She skulked about the town trying to search out if there was more of them. There were a few more congregating in the demolished playground, so she took them out too. Fortunately this batch was killed before they could get close enough to breathe fire.

So she gathered the meat from her kill. They also had these little sacs of liquid. Considering it came from the body of an insect she thought it had to be something like nectar. She took those as well; they could very well come in handy.

She heard something that sounded like a footstep. A person's footstep. So she looked up at one of the half-destroyed townhouses. She could have sworn she saw a bipedal creature retreat behind a wall.

She walked up to where she saw that movement, but there was nothing there.

Rip then heard the sound of laughter in the street.

She looked down and she spotted a little blonde child running away.

Compelled by curiosity she followed the kid in the direction she saw him run. And, again, he was gone. She found herself at the entrance of a subway.

No doubt there were more of these annoying little things down here, so she had to keep the light on her Pip Boy off. But it was as dark as a moonless night down there. She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes until she got used to it. She figured she should travel at night more often to get used to whatever night vision she had. She was a vampire, after all.

At this point in time she recognized how a giant ant moves, so if she saw said movement she was able to just shoot them down undetected.

As she ventured further into the subway she came across some areas where the old lighting still functioned, so that helped a little. Every now and then she would spot that little blonde boy around a corner and continued to follow.

This must have been a lot of fun for him because he'd laugh as he would scurry away. And that alone made Rip want to shoot at that little brat just to teach him a lesson. Did he think this was some kind of game? That she was his plaything or something? What the hell was a kid like him doing in such an awful, ant-infested town?

He led her into this subway tunnel where there was a metal door that led to a former utility room.

Fed up with this already, she sat down on the ground, leaning against the opposite wall and threw a small chunk of concrete at the door. She was too annoyed to knock on the door the old-fashioned way.

As she noticed movement from inside she reached for her gun. Whoever this kid was she was sick of being jerked around like this. She didn't care who was opening the door.

And the person in question was actually this tall man with jaw-length blonde hair. He wore these really peculiar spectacles that seemed to have additional lenses for various levels of magnification. He wore a long white lab coat with old blood stains, but the strangest part of his outfit was that his shirt underneath it ended just at his ribcage. For a second it made Rip wonder if he was a male belly-dancer in his off-time.

"What is the meaning of this?" he cried in a German accent.

And the boy who led her here peeked out from behind this scientist, his mischievous grin as clear as day even in the dimly-lit tunnel.

"Guten tag," the boy greeted with a teasing tone. He also had a German accent.

The boy she had been following was dressed in what looked like a worn boy scout uniform, no doubt left over from the pre-war days. He had a pair of brown animal ears, and by the way they flicked and folded back they were probably cat ears. He even had a sort of Cheshire Cat grin with little sharp teeth and all.

The scientist realized what the lad had been doing and he cried, "Schrodinger! Did you lead this person down here?!"

"Well, you needed help, didn't you, Doc?" Schrodinger reminded.

Heavily getting back up on her feet, wishing she could take a nap or something, Rip asked, "Help with what?" She had a firm grip on her gun, and she cocked it so they would take notice of it. Her patience had run thin in this town.

The Doctor was forced to admit what was going on.

* * *

"I've been doing such research for a colleague of mine," the Doctor explained over a cup of tea. (Really weak, bitter tea, no less.) "Said he wanted to utilize fire ants as some kind of weapon. This town was abandoned in the first place so I took residence here. Needless to say the experiments got out of hand."

"Well, in all fairness, Herr Doctor," Schrodinger interrupted, "it would save so many caps for the cost of flamethrower fuel."

"Yes, well, said colleague has long broken contact with me and left me in the lurch with these things. As you might have guessed I haven't been able to get out since those things started running amok."

"What about him?" Rip asked as she pointed to the cat-boy. "Your son?"

"Good heavens, no! I can't get rid of him. He just showed up one day. He's like that puppy who won't leave you alone."

And with that grin of his, the cat-boy rubbed his head up against Rip's flank as a cat would, almost spilling her tea.

"Now, you stop that!" the Doctor cried as he yanked the boy back by the shirt collar. "That's no way to approach a female guest."

The boy giggled.

"I'm guessing you just want to get out of here," said Rip. "Do you want me to act as your bodyguard as I escort you out of town?"

"Unfortunately it won't be that simple. If we were to just up and leave the ants would continue breeding and overrun the city."

"The city's already abandoned. Why does that bother you?"

"There is still such a thing as liability! Should the Brotherhood or the Enclave find out-"

"But, wait," said the cat-boy, "I thought you said-"

"Silence!" the Doctor hissed. He cleared his throat and continued, "Escorting me out of town will not be necessary. I'm perfectly capable of getting myself out. The problem is leaving as little evidence as possible."

"And by evidence, you mean…?"

"The Ant Queen."

There was a silence that could be sliced through with a knife.

Already Rip anticipated the image of an ant as big as a five-story building.

"You just need to kill the queen and the ants will stop reproducing. The existing ones will eventually die off."

"Wait, Doc," said Schrodinger, "don't you have these little machines down there that just need to be turned on and-"

And without even breaking eye contact with Rip the Doctor smacked Schrodinger in the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"I won't lie," the Doctor continued, "pursuing the queen will be very dangerous. You need to be well-prepared." The Doctor set down his tea and started rummaging through his desk. "Tell me, have you collected any of the fire ants' nectar?"

Rip reached into her bag and pulled out one of the little sacs she found. "You mean these?"

"That's the one. Those will make you slightly resistant to fire, or at the very least you'll endure less critical burns." He continued searching through his belongings and added, "I have most run out of any physical enhancements I can provide. If you've seen my aboveground dwelling you'd see those wretched things have literally eaten me out of house and home. No doubt by now it's all just a pile of ash."

"So no Ant Sight or Ant Might this time around!" Schrodinger declared with glee.

"What was that?" asked Rip.

"Oh, nothing," said the Doctor.

"You know, technically I don't have to," Rip said as she slipped the nectar sac back into her pocket. "I was only assigned to make record of who was living here, if any. I nearly got burned to a crisp by those things up top. As much as I love hunting vermin, I need more incentive than 'I just happen to be here'."

"Well, uh…" The good Doctor had to think it over a bit. "What say you to this: You destroy that Ant Queen, and you can take any materials from here as you wish. Including the password to my computer."

"And why would I want that?" Rip folded her arms across her chest.

"He might have info on how to synthesize chemicals to make your own healing agents," Schrodinger suggested with a sly grin. "Or how to make the best use of a fire ant carcass." The boy slinked around the Doctor's chair the way a cat would. "Maybe he knows someone you know? Somebody you've been looking for?"

Rip suddenly had this uneasy feeling as if the cat boy here had literally reached into her mind for what she might want. She knew what he was referring to.

"Very well." Rip felt like her very curiosity was being held at gunpoint.

"Excellent!" cried the Doctor. He rushed over to a metal door at the end of the room that was sealed like a bank vault. He turned the handle and pushed the door open.

"In you go!" cried Schrodinger.


	9. Chapter 8

**My Unpleasant Valentine**

The ant tunnels around here were not unlike old mining tunnels. It was dimly lit by some still-functioning footlights set up around every other corner.

Unfortunately around this area the Ant Queen had its soldiers guarding the nest area, so Rip had to be extra quiet and not attract attention. She took all four of them out one by one, and to say it was with ease would be a lie. She had to put in extra effort to remain practically invisible.

Finally she came to a tunnel where there was a large clearing, a shallow pool of water, and there sitting in the center was the Ant Queen. It really did look like a throne room, and the Queen itself was at least seven times bigger than the other ants Rip encountered. She shuddered as that creepy-crawly feeling came over her again.

Well, it was now or never. Time to go into the fray.

She reached into her pocket and took out one of the little nectar sacs. She tore open a little hole and sucked it dry like a blood pack. It was rather sickly sweet; there was something about the flavor towards the back of her tongue that had a bit of a medicinal flavor to it. That and the sap-like consistency nearly made her gag.

She suddenly experienced this sensation that was like some kind of healing agent had rushed through her bloodstream. That sort of rejuvenated fresh feeling that one's tongue experiences after taking a peppermint.

Rip pulled out her gun, leaned into the clearing and fired.

She gave at least five shots, all of them aiming for the Queen's eye. It barely made a dent in the creature, literally. Damn, its exoskeleton was strong.

It was still angered and charged at her in response, albeit slowly since it had its enlarged abdomen to deal with. But it still had its fiery breath, and it exhaled furiously at the intruder.

Before she could be cornered by the Queen Rip slinked out of the narrow tunnel and into the clearing, taking advantage of its slow turning radius by rushing around its right side towards the back.

Rip looked around for a heavy object she could use as a bludgeoning tool. A sledgehammer had been left leaning on the wall near one of the lights. That was convenient.

She took hold of the hammer and dodged another blast from the Queen's fire. Nearly singed her hair.

She made her way around to the Queen's left side, hoping that in addition to a limited turning radius that maybe she could confuse it or make it dizzy.

Rip swung the hammer down on the Queen's legs, crippling it so it would be harder to move around. The Queen squirmed a bit, no doubt in shock of the loss of half its legs. And Rip took this moment to bring the hammer down on the Queen's head, smashing its exoskeleton open like an oversized egg with an unusually thick shell.

She was glad she could make its death quick. But Rip also made a disgusted face; ant-innards had gotten on her boots and up to the knees of her pants. They were still cleaner than the sledgehammer was, but she was going to have to change now.

As Rip made her way back through the tunnels she took the time to survey her physical condition. No broken bones or open wounds.

And apparently fire ant nectar worked like a dream. The worst of it was that Rip's right arm had been reddened and dry. Like mild sunburn it just needed some moisturizer and it ought to be fine.

She made it back up to the Doctor's lab, and the Doctor and Schrodinger had already gone. Apparently they weren't going to stick around to say "thank you".

Or they threw her in the pit as a distraction while they made their way out. Bastards.

Whatever. That didn't matter now. She was still alive and the Doctor did as he promised, leaving behind as much supplies as he could afford for her to use, and access to his computer.

Schrodinger had hinted that there may have been information about the dark-haired man in the red coat. Or maybe the little snot was just coaxing her into doing this assignment.

Again, it didn't matter. She took the little disk left on the desk, entered it into the necessary slot, and the computer woke up with the glowing green text on the screen.

Most of the information was corrupted, like the machine equivalent of a handwritten note being smudged. However she could make out a little bit of it that was readable.

"He must be insane. What he has proposed would only be more of a detriment to the army than of any help. He and his obsession with genetics-" And all that followed was more of a corrupted file.

This only left her more confused than before. She knew this was what Schrodinger wanted her to see, but this was of no real help. There wasn't even a description of what this colleague of the Doctor's was.

She fought a giant Ant Queen for THIS?! Rip slammed her head against the computer keyboard with a frustrated growl. Now she wished Schrodinger was here so she could give that little brat the spanking he deserved.

She gave herself about ten minutes to let her frustration simmer down. She then took any necessary supplies the Doctor left behind and shipped off through the subway tunnels again.

* * *

Rip's plan was to head back to Tenpenny and, as instructed, let the Major know of the former residents of Grayditch.

She finally got out of the subway and back onto the town streets.

And just when she had gotten used to everything being so quiet...

"There she is!" she heard someone declare. "Have at her, boys!"

Before she knew it she was surrounded by three guys in battle armor, and on the left breast plates were these symbols that looked like an eagle's talon inside a cartoon heart. Except for their leader, (or presumably their leader,) who instead was dressed in a black suit that still had the symbol in the same place. They all had gotten closer and started firing with their automatic rifles.

Rip had leapt out of the way (how handy it was being a vampire with fast senses and reflexes), just barely avoiding getting her legs shot off. She thought she felt a bullet graze the outmost layer of her boot.

"Aw, f***, yeah!" the dark-skinned leader delightfully declared. "A f***in' challenge!"

"But, Jan, didn't the notice say she was a-" one of the soldiers pointed out.

"You shut your f***in' mouth!" Jan retorted. "I know what he said! It's just more fun this way!"

Rip took cover behind some debris from a concrete building as she retrieved her hunting rifle.

"You know what?!" Jan added in a mad frenzy. "Hold your f***in' fire! This one's mine! I want her goddamn head on my wall!" He dashed towards her hiding spot. "Come 'ere, Pippi Longstocking!"

But when he got to where she was taking cover she was already gone. "Where the f*** did she- GYAAAAAH!" From behind him she shot him in the legs multiple times until he could no longer stand up.

His lackeys began firing on her again and she got a bullet in the right arm.

With such excruciating pain it was hard to hold her gun up, but even if she didn't kill them right away she at least managed to shoot one of the soldier's hands so some of his fingers got blown off and he couldn't hold his own weapon. That one ran away like a coward. She shot the other one in the throat, though she was aiming for his head.

With those two incapacitated, now to deal with their leader.

She grabbed him by the shirt collar and propped him against the debris.

She was finally able to get a good look at him. With his teeth gritted she could see from his canines that he was a vampire as well. Yet again, a very tanned one at that. His brown hair was darker than his own skin tone, he had multiple gold piercings on his face, and on his black ski cap was a big, mystic-looking yellow-colored eye that matched his own.

"You crazy bitch!"

"Okay, so now you're going to tell me who sent you to kill me," she said sternly.

"And just what makes you think I'm gonna-"

Before he could finish Rip had her gun aimed at his nose.

"I will be getting that information either way." She grinned as she slowly lowered her gun until it was aimed at his crotch. "Unless you wish I should shoot your balls off NOW!"

"OKAY! OKAY! OKAY!" Jan reached into a breast pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper.

As soon as he handed it to Rip she unfolded and read the note, now pushing the gun into his chest and pinning him down, as if she was merely leaning on a cane.

"GAAAAAHH! F***, THAT HURTS!" Jan screamed.

The note read:

 _The most useful and most efficient Jan and Luke Valentine,_

 _I have another assassination job for you to do. This time your target is a young woman who goes by the name of Rip Van Winkle. We've recently done business together and it's in my best interest that she be eliminated forthwith._

 _You can't miss her. She has long bluish-black hair with one odd strand that sticks up like a bug's antenna, freckled face, wears glasses, pale complexion, blue eyes, looks to be in her late teens or early twenties. (It's hard to tell with vampires.)_

 _As usual, try to make it look like the Raiders got to her. Or maybe some Deathclaws. Either way, you have my permission to be as brutal as you so please, just try not to make it look like she was a deliberate target._

 _Your most loyal client,_

 _Herr Major._

The whole time she was reading the note she had this very calm, almost stoic look on her face, which Jan found even more unsettling. She lowered the sheet of paper and exhaled sharply through her nose. Jan let out a small noise; he just knew she was going to let him have it.

"Thank you very much, Herr Valentine," she said with a smile. "You've been most cooperative."

Jan braced himself for a point-blank range gunshot, but instead she just hit him on the head with the butt of her gun and knocked him out cold.

Goddamn, her arm was in pain.

She rummaged the pockets of the one dead soldier and at least he had a Stimpak, an inoculation that sped up the healing process for serious injuries. She'd have to actually see a doctor to get the bullet removed first, but at least she had the Stimpak to heal her arm afterwards. And for now she got some bandages on it to slow down the bleeding.

As she walked away it occurred to her that it was probably more humiliating to let Jan live like that, because now he has to face his colleagues and admit he got beat up by a girl.

The very thought of that made her laugh.


	10. Chapter 9

**Warrington Tunnels**

Over the next day or so Rip Van Winkle trekked in the direction of Tenpenny Tower, but she wasn't ready to return altogether.

The question of whether the Doctor sent her into a deathtrap with the Ant Queen was still up in the air, but now there was no doubt about the Major, and Rip was not happy, to put it lightly.

She never considered herself the type to "get even", but already the cogs and wheels were turning about how to get revenge.

And she had an idea of someone else who no doubt wanted the same.

When she got back to Tenpenny Tower she walked past the building and made her way to that subway tunnel where she saw that disgruntled Ghoul head to.

Unfortunately the main entrance to that subway was locked, so she had to go around to an alternate entrance just about ten yards away. The tunnel itself was collapsed but fortunately the staff door wasn't blocked.

At this point Rip was annoyed that she had to deal with underground tunnels again in such a short amount of time. And with even less light than before. As a vampire her sight in the dark was allegedly supposed to be better, but she always had trouble with her eyesight in general even before she realized her vampirism.

And as she ventured further into the tunnel she found something even more frustrating and dangerous. A group of Feral Ghouls meandering about.

The term "Feral Ghoul" was just as it sounded. They had the same overall condition as Ghouls, but their minds were deteriorated to a point where they acted no better than a rabid animal, attacking anything that moved.

Rip knew it was a matter of "them-or-me", so she reached for her gun, but the gunshot wound in her right arm stung so violently that she flinched and dropped her weapon. And the sound caught the Ghouls' attention.

Normally this would be the part where the Feral Ghouls would let out this hiss-like cry and charged after her so she scrambled for her weapon. But these Ferals didn't charge.

Instead they cautiously approached her, not making any kind of aggressive stance, and they sniffed her for her scent. They must have deemed her as something that wasn't a threat, because they shuffled away and went about their business.

Rip found that incredibly weird, and incredibly lucky too. With her arm like this she was barely in any condition to fight off vicious creatures.

She moved on further and encountered more nonviolent Ferals, just finding it even weirder and weirder.

She finally made it to what was probably the main maintenance room of the tunnels. She was about to try to open the large metal door herself with only one arm, but it was opened on the inside by someone else.

Another Ghoul, but this wasn't the one who was outside of Tenpenny Tower. This female Ghoul had a tattered pre-war dress on, and what hair she had left had grown down to her jaw.

"Oh, a visitor," the Ghoul said in a rather shy voice. "Please, come in." Rip reluctantly stepped in and the Ghoul noticed, "Oh, your arm is hurt. We should have something for that." The Ghoul shut the door.

This utility room had been fashioned into some kind of bunker, with a couple twin-sized beds that made it look like a college dorm room.

The Ghoul had Rip sit down on one of them as she began undressing her wound.

"Bessie, I thought I told you that-" The Ghoul that Rip spotted outside Tenpenny had walked in, and the cigarette she had in her teeth almost dropped when she noticed their guest. "Oh, it's you again." She paused and said, "Well, Bessie Lynn has already started on your arm, so you might as well hear what's going on."

* * *

The Ghouls had Rip lie down on one of the twin beds while Bessie Lynn removed the bullet from her arm. She was given a folded cloth to bite down on since they had no anesthetics, and the other Ghoul put out her cigarette as she explained their situation.

"I am called Zorin Blitz," she said. She spoke in such a deep, gravelly voice that was probably a combination of her Ghoulish condition and her smoking. "Bessie Lynn here was a trained doctor during the war."

Had Rip not had that cloth in her mouth, she would have said, "Yeah, I figured as much."

"As you might have guessed up there," Zorin continued as she pointed upwards with her thumb, "the Major, for some reason, has an anti-Ghoul policy when it comes to his residents in the tower. Him and all the others who live there. We've put up with a lot of bull from the Wasteland and personally I've had enough of it.

"Sure, there's the Underworld on the other side of the river, but some Ghouls don't have the convenience or patience to make that travel. Not to mention _that_ place is surrounded by Super Mutants on bad days."

Rip tried to keep her focus on Zorin's explanation to distract herself from the agonizing pain. It took all her strength to keep still and not scream, and Bessie Lynn finally got the bullet out.

"Got it."

"Good," said Zorin. "You got a Stimpak, kid?"

Rip nodded and pushed the cloth out of her mouth with her tongue. "In my left pocket." The pain in her arm was throbbing.

With the Stimpak administered her arm was made numb, and she couldn't see it from her angle but the wound was healing up at a rapid rate. All that was left was to clean the blood off her arm, and some of her blood had returned so Rip was less tired and light-headed.

But she still needed to change now with the uniform damaged and stained with bug entrails.

She retrieved a change of clothes that she kept with her and stepped behind a privacy curtain.

As she got undressed Zorin asked, "You're probably also wondering about the Ferals you met on the way here. I've trained them. They've been taught not to attack anyone who doesn't reek of the Tenpenny luxury." She paused and said, "I'm not sure why they didn't attack you. You live there. I even hear you're the Major's little pet assassin."

 _How the hell does word keep spreading so fast about me around here?_ Rip thought.

"Maybe you haven't lived there long enough. Or maybe all that gunk on your clothes covered the stink." Zorin lit herself a new cigarette and continued, "I take it you want the same as I do: Slaughtering the denizens of Tenpenny and take the tower for ourselves."

"Damn straight," said Rip.

"I figured as much because if he sent you down here to kill me you wouldn't have just knocked on my door like that."

"I didn't knock."

"Whatever! My point is rumor has it you're a bit of a klutz but I doubt the Major would hire you if you were that stupid."

"What gave people the idea I was a klutz?" Rip questioned in an irritated tone.

"Well, I heard someone mention something about how you set off a booby-trapped town."

Rip peeked out from behind the curtain and asked, "People actually know about that?" She retreated and continued changing as she said, "That was years ago. I was literally just a kid at the time. And at least I was smart enough to get out of there before I was blown to bits."

She finished changing and stepped out. She had switched from her army uniform to a spiffy little business suit that she had found from a shot down caravan.

"Why would you want to kill your boss?" Zorin continued.

Rip undid her braids and said, "He shipped me out to die." A sharp-toothed grin spread across Rip's face and it even made Zorin a little uneasy. "He figured if the town full of fire ants didn't kill me then some hired assassins would. I think that's fair game." Somehow she was becoming more exhilarated.


	11. Chapter 10

**"Right In Der Fuehrer's Face!"**

There was a secret entrance that led into Tenpenny from the subway tunnels. Rip's mission now was to find the switch that opened it, and Zorin said it had to be some kind of underground utility room below the building.

Rip was let back into the Tenpenny compound, and the guard seemed shocked to see her.

"Miss Van Winkle! I- I didn't expect to see you back so soon!" he stammered. He must have been in on the Major's plan.

"Is that so?" Rip responded, still smiling. "Well, people have a way of surprising you, don't they?" She put her hand on his shoulder, making it look like friendly guidance in front of the residents sipping tea on the outdoor picnic tables. "Pray tell, I've always been so curious about the basic function of the generator rooms here. Could you show me?" She made a cute, doll-like face as if flirting, but her grip on his shoulder tightened immensely as if she was ready to crush his bones like a twig. He had no choice but to follow her.

Around the right side of the building he pointed her to an underground entrance, and she took him with her.

The generator room was small and basic, and the necessary switch she needed was conspicuous and on the other side of the room.

The guard took advantage of the few seconds he had and maneuvered away to get Rip's hand off of him. He reached for his gun as she reached for hers, he fired and missed her head, but she didn't miss his.

"I was going to let you live in exchange for your cooperation," she said to the corpse in an irritated manner. "But we can't all have nice things, can we?"

She stepped over to the switch, pulled it, and a slot in the wall opened up showing Zorin's eyes.

"Good job, kid!" said Zorin. "Hurry inside or you'll miss all the fun! The Major is all yours!" The hisses and growls of Ferals could be heard as Zorin marched into battle.

Rip got back outside and the picnickers did not yet know what was going on. There were all kinds of noises coming from inside the tower including objects being smashed, and the picnickers were becoming alarmed one by one. They all rushed towards the entrance with Rip calmly following behind them.

She got inside and most of the lights had been shut off. All over people were screaming as the Ferals had been let loose and were running amok, swinging their clawed hands at non-Ghouls left and right.

Rip walked through the lobby as if she was strolling through the park, residents and Ferals running past her as if they didn't even notice her there.

Holding and spinning her rifle like it was a baton, she started humming this joyous, triumphant tune she remembered from an old pre-war cartoon. She must have seen it when she was really little, when she was living in the Vault, because she had no clear memory of it but the song was still there.

She looked up on the second floor landing and saw Zorin Blitz armed with a large scythe, and she sliced through a fleeing man's back.

Rip took the elevator to the top floor. There were blood stains on the inside already.

The elevator rang and its doors opened, and right outside the Major was issuing an order to one of the guards.

"I demand you to go down there and find out why we have no power!"

"Yessir!" The guard turned to the elevator and both men finally noticed Rip.

She grinned at them, and fired a shot a point-blank range in the guard's head.

As he fell to the floor the Major was nearly frozen with shock, as if he was seeing a ghost right in front of him. It would be most appropriate for him given the circumstances.

He raised his hands in front of him and stepped back. "Please, mein fraulein, let's be reasonable. What could you possibly gain by killing someone like me?"

 _"When der Fuehrer says: Kill her without a trace,"_ Rip sang as she stepped in further.

The Major gritted his teeth; he got the picture.

He could see her eyes reflect and glow against the dim lighting and that sharp-toothed demented grin of hers.

With the barrel of her gun right up against the Major's forehead, she felt like a kid on the best of sugar highs.

 _"We FIRE!"_ she sang, and she pulled the trigger. _"FIRE!"_ And the Major's head was blown to pieces with his body thrown against the wall. _"Right in Der Fuehrer's face!"_

Of all the kills she had made, this was probably one among many that she was most proud of. There was a sudden spring in her step as she continued singing. She wanted to celebrate somehow…

She looked about the now late Major's room and found a can of paint with a not-yet-used brush beside it. Apparently he was planning to have his room repainted just when the Ferals were unleashed.

Downstairs she could hear things beginning to calm down. No doubt the rest of the residents had been finished off and it was only a matter of time before Zorin came to meet up with her.

Rip took the brush and mixed it in with the blood that had splattered on the floor. She wanted to write something, she didn't care what.

She only made it as far as to paint a large "M" on the wall when the elevator rang again and Zorin stepped out onto the top floor.

"You know we're going to have to clean all this up anyway, right?" Zorin said sternly. She paused and asked, "Why an 'M'?"

"You know, I don't know."

"Also you should be drinking down that blood. God knows how many blood packs we'll have until next month."

Rip's little sugar high had quickly subsided and she remarked bitterly, "Why would I want to drink HIS blood? Back-stabbing bastard probably has a bloodstream as foul as rotted meat."

At that moment Rip actually noticed something peculiar about the smell of the blood on her paintbrush. Smelled like it was mixed in with motor oil. Most unappetizing.

The lights were still incredibly dim, but she pulled up the Major's body by the shirt collar and looked into his headless neck. There seemed to be computer wires poking out of it along with bone and flesh.

"He was a robot?" Rip cried.

"An android!" Zorin corrected, just as shocked as Rip was. She poked the corpse's belly with her scythe handle and observed, "He's still mostly flesh and bone… You'd think his cranium would have been enforced with some bulletproof metal…"

"I've never seen an android before," said Rip as she dropped the body's shirt collar. "Why do you sound so shocked?"

"It's just that androids are kind of a legend going around. They're not from around here and rumor has it they're regarded up there the same way Ghouls are looked down upon around here. If that's true it's just disturbing how much this guy was a f***ing hypocrite."

Rip had an urge to be perfectly frank. "We just slaughtered a bunch of bigoted humans like cattle, and his hypocrisy is what disturbs you."

Zorin was not pleased. "You're quite a smart-ass, aren't you?"

Rip chuckled.


	12. Chapter 11

**Welcome to Paradise**

Zorin Blitz was made the new owner of Tenpenny Tower. Naturally the "No Ghouls Allowed" policy had been stripped immediately, and it wasn't long before the majority of residents were Ghouls. There were a few human residents as well, and they were free to stay as long as they didn't act like bigoted jackasses.

After the coup that took place, Rip took a much-needed break, rest her feet for a while. It really was great to not have to travel immensely for food and medical supplies. At one point she realized she was just lounging about in a five-star hotel room. So this is what a vacation must have been like in the pre-war days.

And after about a week and a half she started to get restless. When one is used to moving around a lot, being in a single place for too long doesn't feel right.

So, after about two weeks, Rip just packed up and left again. She gave no word that she was leaving or where she was headed.

Rip didn't have any specific destination in mind either. She just sort of wandered the Wasteland, traveling in the direction of northwest.

After a little less than a week she found a peculiar structure in the distance. It looked like a large, oddly-shaped statue of a person with a horn. Her curiosity compelled her to get a better look.

As she got closer she saw it was a statue of a chubby little cartoon man holding an ice cream cone. It overlooked this compound surrounded by a wall, no doubts the remains of a strip mall.

She walked counterclockwise around this outer wall, hoping to eventually find the entrance. At about the same height as the Big Boy stood the roof of a rather tall building, its shape looking like it was trying to stab the sky.

"Hey!" a gruff voice yelled at her, causing her to stop walking. She finally found the entrance, but it was guarded. "Either you have official business here, or get lost!"

"Oh, I have business here…" Rip lied as she reached for her money pouch. She smiled as she shook it about to let him hear the sound of her bottle cap collection.

"Mmm! Good to hear," replied the guard. "Five hundred."

"Three-fifty."

"Four hundred."

"Three-seventy-five."

"Done."

Rip bribed the guard accordingly and he let her through. This entrance was rather narrow; the walls were set up with sheets of metal and curved to the right. It was probably to keep it inconspicuous.

She came to the main gates and walking out were some armed individuals escorting a man in tattered clothes. He had his wrists tied together in front of him, and a large computerized collar fastened around his neck.

Rip got the picture. This was a slave trade operation.

The slave must have thought it was the opportune time to escape, because as soon as he stepped through the gates he broke into a run. Unfortunately he didn't get far before his head exploded to pieces.

"God dammit…" grumbled one of the Slavers. "Gonna have to replace that one…"

The Slaver went to retrieve the slave's collar as Rip was allowed into the compound.

Her assumption was right; this place was made up of the remains of an entertainment district.

The building that looked like it was stabbing the sky was formerly a movie theater, and as of now it had a makeshift balcony built across its front. At the corner of her eye she thought she spotted someone in a white suit at that balcony, but when she turned to look it was gone.

Across from the theater was this sort of outdoor eatery. It looked like a diner with its roof stripped off.

She walked past the theater and saw the slave pens. They were held in by basic mesh wire fences, and there were two separate pens. One for adults and one for children.

The moment she saw these kids also wearing those collars her eyes hardened. She didn't need any more evidence about what she thought of this place.

A little African American girl rushed up to the end of the pen and said, "You have to get us out of here! And don't forget Walter!" she cried as she pointed at something behind Rip.

Rip turned around and saw this sort of human-sized capsule. It looked like a futuristic phone booth, and there was a small light that indicated that it was locked.

The person in the white suit stepped out through the main doors of the movie theater and indicated in Rip's direction.

"You there." The man beckoned her to come with him.

Rip got a good look at him, and his skin was as white as his suit. His emerald green eyes practically glowed from behind his spectacles. For someone living in such a drab, run-down environment he still kept a head of long, luxurious blonde hair.

"You must be our honored guest," he added. "Please, come in."

And he brought her inside the theater. The place was dimly lit, almost as if it was being illuminated by candlelight.

At the front desk, lounging with his feet up, sat a familiar face. A face with multiple piercings and a hat with an eye on it.

It didn't take Jan Valentine long to recognize Rip either.

"That's her!" Jan yelled as he bolted out of his seat. "That's the bitch who-" He looked about ready to go on a murderous frenzy, but the blonde man yanked his ear. "Ow, f***!"

"Yeah, we'll be having none of that," the blonde man stated calmly. He forced his brother to sit back down and turned to Rip. "My apologies for my brother's demeanor. I can never have guests over when he's around."

"Oh, I've met my share of Feral Ghouls," Rip joked with a smile. "I'm used to it."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny!" remarked Jan.

"You must be Rip Van Winkle," said the blonde fellow. "Don't ask me how I know. Trust me, it's not very often that one of our own targets succeeds in beating up my brother."

"Jesus Christ, would you shut up about that!" Jan hissed.

"So you were the ones the Major hired to have me killed." By all means Rip should have been furious and considered them a threat, but they didn't seem to pose a threat now so she remained calm.

"Yes. Again, actually being able to apologize to one of our targets is not a regular occurrence for us. You understand. Jan runs a small mercenary group. Kill for hire and all that jazz."

Jan had his arms folded in front of him and said nothing. He looked like a child who had been refused dessert.

"And you run…?" Rip inquired.

"The Paradise Falls Slave Trade. Sometimes when the Mercs have no assignments on their hands I send Jan to collect more merchandise."

Jan chuckled. "Yeah, I'd be able to bring in more if some of them didn't insist on arriving as damaged goods. And by 'damaged' I mean their insides blown out. At least the kids know how to play the game and cooperate."

"Quite an enterprise you run around here," said Rip, successfully feigning an impressed attitude.

"Yes, if you can get the Slavers to stop fighting over the last beer," Luke said as he glared at his brother.

"Hey, do you want a sh**-ton of people who will carry out our orders? Or do you just want some pussy-ass pansies who've never used a gun?"

As if she was hardly paying attention to what they had to say, Rip remarked, "You know, for brothers you two don't look much alike to begin with."

"Yeah, don't tell Luke, but he's adopted," said Jan with a grin. He had to get back at his brother somehow. And Luke promptly slapped him in the back of the head, nearly knocking his hat off.


	13. Chapter 12

**Pickpocket**

Rip thought over her situation as she got some rest, sort of.

She looked over the compound from the movie theater balcony. Most of the Slavers were out in the roofless diner eating or drinking. Jan had kicked everybody out of the barracks for a booty call. (Luke wanted the movie theater to himself.)

The explosive collars all the slaves were wearing had to be connected to one machine if they were programmed the same way. And then there was the isolation capsule. It had to have some kind of key card.

She leaned on the balcony railing and rested her chin in her hands. Paradise Falls actually looked very pretty in the moonlight, if one pretends that the slave pens aren't there.

Luke Valentine came out to join her.

He leaned on the railing next to her and asked, "So, what became of the Major?"

"I blew his f***ing head off," Rip replied with a satisfied smile.

"Hmm… I suppose I should thank you for not doing the same to my brother."

"Well, I found him amusing, in that he makes this funny noise when you threaten to shoot his genitals."

Luke chuckled. "Yes, that sounds like my brother. I'm actually quite glad to have you here, Miss Van Winkle. If you were able to kill the Major then you definitely have a knack for doing away with those who are well-protected." He draped his arm around Rip's shoulders, but she paid little attention.

"That sounds like a business proposition. What's the job?"

"Come back inside. We can discuss more of it there."

In the lobby of the theater it had been fashioned into quite the entertainment hall.

Luke went to turn on the jukebox and Rip saw the bright red heart-shaped bed. She figured she'd better be on her guard.

Luke tuned the radio to some DJ with a French accent. She hadn't heard that on the radio before.

"… Fortunately a vast majority of Megaton's citizens left the town before the blast," the DJ announced, "thanks to an anonymous warning made to everyone there. Those who didn't make it out in time included an unruly inn proprietor, who was found assassinated in his office, and a little lady who ran the pawn shop, who somehow survived the blast, has become a Ghoul, and now resides in the Underworld. And to whoever set off that bomb, I hope you're happy."

 _Actually, I am,_ Rip wanted to tell that DJ.

"But to lighten up the mood tonight, up next is Bing and the Andrews Sisters, with 'Accentuate the Positive'."

As the band on the radio began Luke held out his hand. "Care to dance?"

Rip accepted.

"This is actually what I wanted to discuss with you," said Luke. "The Wild Geese Radio Station."

 _Wild Geese! That's the name of the station he headed off to!_ Rip remembered.

"They tend to have rather liberal viewpoints that don't coincide well with our business," Luke continued. "We don't mind people calling us scum but it would be nice to not have that broadcasted across half the Wasteland."

"I've never heard this radio station before," said Rip. "I've only gotten the Enclave."

"Yes, well, Jan and I are specially equipped with a personal satellite dish of sorts. They must be having some problems with their signal if those on this side of the river can't get it. But it's one thing if their communications are limited. Eliminating them altogether would be another." He dipped her and asked, "You think you can handle that? Since that area is said to be overrun by Super Mutants I'll pay you extra." He pulled her back up and added, "You'd just have to make the announcement on the radio as soon as you killed DJ Pip Bernadotte."

"I don't know," Rip stated in a playful manner. "I might have to take one of your slaves with me as a souvenir."

"Well, a fair amount of the adult ones would make a fine combat companion. Especially that uppity little crumpet we've had to keep in isolation."

"Really?" Rip thought back to what that child said. "So tell me, how much is he worth?"

"Him? Oh, he's not for sale. Not until we've taught him a much needed lesson in obedience. A slave who can't even follow his master's commands isn't worth the cost of one of those collars. Should I sell him to someone he'd just try to run, the collar would go off and I'm left with an angry customer telling me his slave was defective."

Over Luke's shoulder Rip spotted a computer in the dark corner.

"Although, I could get one of my tech guys to make a less lethal collar if you want. One that gives disobedient slaves an incapacitating shock rather than make their skulls explode. All else fails you can still use him as a meat shield. Or use his body as a bargaining chip with the Super Mutants."

Rip chuckled. "I didn't think you'd be so agreeable after I almost killed your brother."

"Well, in this line of work you can expect some casualties to those closest to you. In his case I'm just obligated to work with him. Truth be told, if he wasn't my brother I would have beaten the snot out of him myself."

"Why?"

"Because he's a brat and he deserves it."

Rip laughed, and Luke took the opportunity to kiss her on the lips.

She was caught by surprise, but she figured now was probably the best opportunity.

With her left hand she reached down into his right back pocket, hoping to make it look like she was fondling him. (If it didn't work, she could always knee him in the groin, assassinate him there and then empty out his pockets.)

Fortunately he didn't catch on. He lied her down on the bed and gently nibbled at her neck. She briefly felt the brush of his own vampire fangs.

Rip had to hurry, before he got the chance to start unbuttoning her jacket.

Her hand finally found what had to be a wallet, and she inconspicuously slipped it out of his pocket, tucking it into her own.

"Wait! Stop!" she said as she pushed him back.

Luke paused, then got off of her and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Sorry, this is just too fast," Rip added as she sat back up.

"I can wait," Luke stated as he affectionately put his hand on her thigh. "I can wait till you get back."

Thank God. Playing coy was working.


	14. Chapter 13

**Magic Bullets and Deadly Wires**

Luke said he was going to see if they had any more wine. Could the timing be any more lucky?

Rip slinked over to the computer and turned it on, the keyboard flipping up for operation.

Inside his wallet Rip found something that looked like a mix between a chip and a primitive disc. She inserted it into the slot and she was given access.

She found the basic command for the slaves collars, and she gave the command to have them deactivated.

Before Luke could come back down the stairs she slipped out of the theater. At the slave pens she decided to give her lock picking skills a go. She started with the children's pen.

And it didn't work. Apparently she was a few months out-of-practice, and at this very moment she had a very small window of opportunity before Luke Valentine learned his wallet had been stolen.

The little girl noticed her predicament and said, "Get Walter out! He can do it!"

 _Well, I can use the help…_

She turned around to the isolation chamber tucked away among piles of garbage. In Luke's wallet she found a blue card key, slipped it into the slot, and with an affirmative beeping sound the door opened.

Sitting inside, as if lying in waiting, was a man, probably in his late twenties or early thirties. He was just as pale as Rip with his long black hair tied back. There was a sort of sharpness to his gray eyes, like he could literally cut a person down just by looking at them if he willed it. For his left eye he had a monocle with a clip that inexplicably kept it perched on the bridge of his nose. He dressed more like he should be serving tea to a wealthy family as opposed to whatever the Slavers had planned for him.

He stood up and said in an English accent, "Oh. Well, thank you for taking care of the first half of my job."

"'First half'?"

"You're armed. I assume you can guess what the second half is." He looked in the direction of his captors and from his gloves he pulled out a length of filament wires. He looked over at the slave pens and advised, "You all should stand back."

The kids all backed up against the far wall. Walter whipped one of his wires forward, and somehow the lock was sliced to bits. The girl at the front pushed the gate open and motioned them to follow her. She led them to the toilets, where there was apparently a drainage pipe that the kids were small enough to escape through.

Walter did the same slice-the-lock method for the adult slave pen. However these slaves just sort of remained, meandering about in their pen like confused poultry. They even heard an old man in the back grumbling about how there was no point to their escape.

 _Fine,_ Rip thought. _Whatever! It's their loss._ She was a little bitter she went to all that trouble deactivating the collars for them, but at least the kids got out fine.

All that was left was the Slavers.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take care of the younger brother," said Walter. He didn't even bother turning to look Rip in the eye as he said that. "It's thanks to him I no longer have a caravan with me…"

"Oh, be my guest!" said Rip. "I've already had my fun with him!"

All but one Slaver in watchtower had gone off to the barracks.

So before Walter could walk in that direction Rip briefly held him back so she could shoot the nearest guard in the head.

"Okay, now you're clear," she said.

As Walter headed towards the barracks Rip heard the door to the balcony open and close. The ruckus had gotten Luke Valentine's attention, and he was not happy.

He leaped off the balcony railing as he pulled these large knives from holsters at his waist.

He made a graceful landing behind Rip and took a few swipes at her legs. Fortunately for her she got out of the way in time.

* * *

The very moment Walter stepped inside the barracks the other Slavers were up and alert with their guns aimed at his face.

"How the f*** did you get out?!" cried Jan from the bunk he was in.

As Jan rushed to get his pants back on the other Slavers were quickly surrounding Walter, all aiming their guns at him.

"You must be _really_ brain damaged to think you can come in here without even a weapon," Jan boasted as he approached their intruder. "You didn't have a weapon when we found you, what makes you think your chances are better now?" Jan was well-armed with a pair of machine guns as he walked down the stairs. "You think you're the motherf***ing Moses of the Commonwealth, don't you, Jeeves! Here to free the slaves? Well, guess what! No forty years wandering the Wasteland for you!"

More Slavers had gathered and they all took aim at Walter.

"I'd say it's more like forty sec-"

But before Jan could finish that statement, Walter sent his wire forth and decapitated at least seven Slavers at once.

For three more he had the wires wrap around the Slavers' weapons, and in addition to snatching their guns he cut off their arms with them.

With a couple more swings of his own arms the rest of them (about fifteen Slavers in total) had been diced to pieces.

Jan began firing rapidly at him, but Walter rolled out of the way and darted back in Jan's direction.

With a swing of Walter's left arm Jan's right leg was sliced off. Walter tightened his fist and Jan's right arm went with it.

Despite lacking a leg to stand on, Jan fired the gun in his left hand at Walter, until the wires snatched the gun out of his hand and flung it across behind him.

"AW, F***!" Jan screamed.

He couldn't even stand up properly. He propped himself up with his remaining arm as Walter approached him.

"You were saying?" said Walter with a wry smile. And Jan was made aware that the deadly wires were now encompassing his neck and torso. "'Forty seconds'?"

Jan had only one thing to say left. "F*** YOOOOUUU!

Walter gave one last flick of his wrist.

* * *

Luke was surprisingly graceful as he swung his knives at Rip. Had the war never began, he probably could have been a professional dancer or acrobat.

Rip didn't let on, but he had her on her toes when it came to combat. The Raiders she had faced before were never this fast or tactful. With him swinging and her barely dodging the blades, it looked like a deadly dance between the two.

He sprung up onto the counter of the diner. It was becoming apparent to Luke that his knives weren't going to do him any good, so he threw them to the side and their blades were lodged deeply within the walls.

Within the blink of an eye he crossed his arms in front of him and reached for his pistols, which were also holstered at his waist.

Before he could fire any shots Rip fired repeatedly at him aiming for his legs or his stomach. But as predicted he sprung out of the way, and in midair he twisted around and shot at her, barely missing her and his bullets lodging into the ground.

 _Dammit, he's fast!_ thought Rip. Before he could fire another round she took cover behind the kitchen counter.

She had to act fast. She rummaged through her pockets and found these small round bullets that she had been saving for such a predicament.

Luke waited at the ledge of the balcony; she had to come back out sometime. He found it more fun that way.

She finally came out of her hiding spot, and she was already taking aim.

Luke leaped off the ledge when she pulled the trigger. With this shot her gun sounded more like a cannon. He grinned because he knew she had missed.

But unbeknownst to him, behind him the bullet was ricocheting off of nothing in midair. And he was struck in the left shoulder.

He fell facedown on the ground and tried to get up to figure out what had happened, but then a second bullet struck him in the back of the right knee.

Impossible. She only fired a single shot.

And there was a third one, and it got him on the right side of his chest, throwing him backwards on the ground.

Walter had now returned from the Barracks and none of the other Slavers were with him. Luke could only assume that it didn't end well for Jan and the other Slavers.

Luke turned to Rip and had this look in his eye as if begging for mercy.

"Sorry," Rip said with a cold, hard frown. "You lost me when you started selling children as slaves." She stepped back and said to Walter, "He's all yours."

And Walter pulled out the wires from his gloves once again.


	15. Chapter 14

**Bridges and Tunnels**

After dealing with the Slavers and the Valentine Brothers, the escaped slaves were waiting right outside Paradise Falls's walls.

One of the older slaves had volunteered to escort the children to a place called Little Lamplight. Apparently it was a settlement strictly run by children with little to no adult residents or visitors.

As the parties left, Rip asked Walter, "Then what happens when kids at Little Lamplight grow up?"

"They have to leave. Their primary option is to move to this place called 'Big Town'. As you might have guessed it's run by adults who barely know how to take care of themselves given their circumstances. Every two weeks residents are being abducted by gangs of Super Mutants."

"That sounds like a very flawed and hazardous system," Rip remarked.

"Tell that to the Brotherhood who still haven't bothered to establish a proper orphanage or safe house for lost children."

For a brief moment Rip thought back to that encounter when the Brotherhood long ago. She was just a child back then, and they did nothing to help her.

She shook her head. She shouldn't dwell on that now.

"By any chance do you know how to get to the Wild Geese Radio Station?" she asked with a smile.

"And what are you looking for there?" Walter inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I… I have reasons which I choose not to disclose right now."

"Well, actually I have to travel in that direction anyway." His face remained cold and stern as he added, "I'd be glad to escort you there personally."

Rip gave him a glance to the side. "And how long would that take?"

"Probably a couple days, at least."

"What?" Rip flinched and took a few steps back. The thought of traveling with someone for an extended period of time like that made her uncomfortable. Especially when she had just met that someone. She politely stated, "That won't be necessary. I just need directions."

"Miss Van Winkle, as you just demonstrated, you're a very skilled sharpshooter but have you faced a Super Mutant or a Centaur recently? Whether or not you use those magic bullets of yours, not even three shots through one of their eyeballs would be able to take them down. Unless you have a missile launcher folded up in one of your pockets, you're going to need as much fire power as you can get."

Rip sharply exhaled. She had faced a Super Mutant before. Three of them, in fact. Those big mutated giants with no lips and a never-ending lust for hunting anything human in shape. It was about five years ago, and she turned and ran because she saw that none of her specialized bullets could pierce a Super Mutant's skull.

It sounded like she had no other choice. "Very well."

* * *

Walter and Rip made their way west of Paradise Falls. To get to the Wild Geese Radio Station they had to take a series of subway tunnels to reach the remains of downtown Washington, and for that they needed to get across the river. Trying to swim across would be hazardous because the water in the wasteland was highly irradiated. so they had to find either a shallow area they could walk through or a bridge.

Fortunately they were able to find the latter, but the bridge itself was barely being held together. Towards the middle it looked like the bridge had been slightly stretched and pulled apart so the concrete was slightly fragmented and the infrastructure was made bare in places.

And to top that off there was a Raider camp where the bridge was fragmented, and the Raiders attacked without hesitation.

However these Raiders were a lot easier to eliminate after dealing with the Valentine Brothers. They weren't half as well-armed as Jan or as tactful as Luke.

Also they left some mole rat meat on the stove, so the travelers could at least stop to eat after dealing with them.

The rusted shack wasn't much of an eatery, but it would have to do.

"Did I forget?" Walter said to break the silence. "Thank you for helping us out of Paradise Falls."

"Oh. Well, you're welcome." Rip was a little surprised. She couldn't remember the last time someone gave her a formal thanks.

"I suppose you're wondering why I couldn't get out if my wires were so efficient."

Rip swallowed a bit of meat. "Actually, it never crossed my mind. Honestly that chamber looked really cramped so I probably wouldn't have been able to get out either."

"Exactly."

"Where did you learn that wire trick, anyway?"

Walter chuckled. "You make it sound like it's some kind of parlor trick."

"Oh, sorry. I meant no-"

"It's alright. No offense taken."

He didn't actually answer her question about his weapon, but that was fine. He had his wires, she had her magic bullets.

They got back up and continued onward.

Getting across the fragmented bridge was like a deadly game of hopscotch combined with tightrope walking. Walter showed almost no fear in it. If anything he was merely annoyed at such an inconvenience.

Rip, on the other hand, hadn't realized until then how heights could make her uneasy. As she hopped across the fragmented concrete, trying not to let her weight break them out of place, she felt like a kid going through a most unusual gym class obstacle course. Except in this case she could die.

When she got to the last fragment Walter reached out, grabbed her wrist and pulled her across.

Rip let out a quick sigh of relief. "Danke. Let's not do that again."

"By the way, I didn't mean to belittle your magic bullets when I was talking of the Super Mutants."

"No, that's okay. I know from experience those ugly things are hard to take down."

"Yes. My point is those bullets are most impressive. How did you come across them?"

"I didn't. I made them myself. Took at least fifty trials to get them right."

They made their way to downtown's remains. As they trekked underneath a bridge this time they were nearing the subway tunnels.

But they were met by a barrage of bullets, and they came from a party of Super Mutants from across the river. They were too far for Walter's wires to reach, so Rip had to shoot each of them in the head. It didn't kill them but it was enough to distract them while the travelers retreated inside the subway tunnel.

But, lo and behold, two more Super Mutants just inside. At least this time they were close enough for Walter to decapitate the first one and literally disarm the second.

It had been a long while since they spoke. As they squeezed through the spaces between debris in the train tunnel Walter finally broke the silence.

"No offense, but you don't really seem like the Wasteland Survivor type," said Walter.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Let's just say I've met folks not unlike you and they didn't last particularly long in the Wastes. Like this one fellow who was so ecstatic about winning 'the Lottery'. As soon as he ran out into the wild he was beset by Radscorpions."

Rip shuddered just thinking of those hideous giant scorpions. "Ew… Ugly things…"

"My point exactly. I would think you were fifteen years old, tops."

"Well, I'm not. I'm at least twenty."

"You don't know that for certain?"

"My past is really hazy, okay? Besides, you're one to talk. Judging by your clothes I would have thought you had no skills with a weapon, that you were born and raised in the luxury of Tenpenny Tower. Though that could have never happened because the folks who used to live in Tenpenny were the type who thought themselves too good for child-rearing."

Walter laughed. "I know that to be true." He climbed over a boulder and added, "I used to work for someone who lived there. He was too good to take a wife, but not too good to fool around." He took Rip's hand and helped her over. "And sire an illegitimate child."

"Oh." Rip hopped down. "Did the kid-?"

"The child is alright." Walter continued forward. "She should be a full-grown adult by now. Last I heard she was still living in Rivet City. I used to visit her whenever I could. I remember she was so well-behaved. Certainly a lot more focused and disciplined than her father was."

Rip nervously bit the inside of her cheek. "When was the last time you saw her father?"

"He actually passed away ten years ago. I'm inclined to believe his hedonism had caught up with him."

"Ten years…" Rip had to guess by Walter's appearance. "So you were working as his servant since you were a kid?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

"Then how did you get caught up in Paradise Falls?"

Walter flinched as if he had experienced a quick electrical shock. "I'd rather not discuss it."

Rip spoke nothing more of it.


	16. Chapter 15

**La Behemoth**

It took them a while to finish their trek through the tunnels. They had to transfer and take another tunnel at one of the stations. But they finally made it out of the Tenleytown station and back aboveground.

Some natural light again. It was about mid-afternoon and overcast, but Rip still had to take a few seconds for her eyes adjust. After rubbing her eyes she put her glasses back on and looked over at Walter.

To some shock she noticed that all this time Walter had been walking on one shot leg and had a couple bullets in his left shoulder. No doubt it was from the Raiders who attacked them earlier, or maybe even the Super Mutants at the start of the subway.

He saw the surprise on her face and knew why. "I'll be quite alright. The Wild Geese Radio Station shouldn't be too far ahead and I'm sure they have medical facilities."

"But how the hell can you even walk on that leg? I got shot in the arm recently and I was barely able to hold my gun!"

He didn't answer. He just continued forward up the subway entrance steps. He didn't seem like he was even bothered by those gunshot wounds.

Rip followed, and across the street from them were a pair of armed Super Mutants.

The monsters saw them and they prepared their weapons. The uglies began to charge, Walter and Rip braced themselves, and from the side one of the Super Mutants was shot in the head. It was thrown into a wall and its partner tried to figure out what had just happened. It looked in the direction the shot came from, and its skull was blown to pieces.

Rip wanted to see what had happened but Walter held her back.

Someone in a suit of power armor and armed with a missile launcher, no doubt the weapon used to kill the monsters, rushed out from within a destroyed building to where the Super Mutants had fallen.

Judging by the armor this person looked to be from the Brotherhood of Steel, except without the helmet. This person had short blonde hair and blue eyes. It was a little hard to tell if it was male or female, because from the neck up they could pass as a very boyish-looking young man.

He (or she) spotted the two at the subway station and aimed his/her gun at them to keep them at bay.

"So what is it?" someone else called from the building remains. Someone in the armor who _was_ wearing a helmet followed the blonde soldier.

"Just some civilians, sir," the blonde person replied as she calmly lowered her gun. It was a young woman with a Cockney accent. "They don't seem to be injured, however the taller one can use some first aid."

Walter and Rip put away their weapons to indicate they meant no harm to them.

The soldier with the helmet said in a stern voice, "We had a perfect shot of those monsters and you just had to alarm them! What business do you have here, anyway?"

Rip wanted to sass back at this person that their blonde solider still killed the Super Mutants. What did it matter if it wasn't a perfect shot?

"We're seeking the Wild Geese Radio Station," Walter explained.

"Yeah, you and a whole horde of uglies. Well, come on. We should at least have a first aid kit."

* * *

Walter and Rip were brought into an alley where this small band of the Brotherhood of Steel had taken refuge.

The blonde soldier, Seras Victoria, covered Walter's wounds in gauze and explained, "The Radio Station is said to have more than enough medical supplies, so we'll get you patched up when we get there."

"Look alive people!" cried the commanding officer. The other Brotherhood knights rushed to their feet. "We've got a gang of those things in the building across the bridge! Civilians, you'd better stay in back."

Seras grabbed her missile launcher and stood back up. She was more than ready.

"No! Victoria, you hang back and guard the civilians!"

"But I-"

"That's an order!" Her commanding officer went off to join the others.

Seras gritted her teeth and grumbled, "Was blowing two Super Mutants' brains in not good enough?"

The group moved out of the alley and stood at the end of the makeshift wooden bridge. How these heavily armored individuals didn't break through it was quite a mystery.

And across the bridge the Super Mutants were gathered at an abandoned playground outside a crumbled building.

This was the first time Rip had to wait in back and let others mow down the monsters for her. And frankly she didn't care for it that much. With their assault rifles and missile launchers they kept aiming for the Super Mutants' torsos, and she wanted to show them that they should have been aiming for the heads for an easy kill, or the legs to prevent them from charging towards them.

Not to mention with the time the Brotherhood wasted clip after clip of assault rifle bullets Walter could slice up one of the monsters in less than half that time.

Seras was getting rather impatient too.

She exhaled sharply through her nose and said, "Come on. I know a quicker route."

"But won't that get you in trouble with your commanding officer?" Rip said in a sardonic tone, mocking the commanding officer in question.

"Just come on!"

She led them down to a ditch of crumbled cement and the remains of a building's broken infrastructure.

They maneuvered their way through the debris and Seras added, "This is really just a bloody turf war between the Brotherhood and the Super Mutants. It'd be faster just to _not_ engage with those hulking things."

It was a little hard for Seras to try to lead these two in sneaking away. Her armor was so bulky it easily got stuck in nooks and crannies, but she managed well.

"Okay, just out there should be the Station Plaza…"

They stepped out of the nook and into a clearing, and stomping about outside the building was a Behemoth, a Super Mutant that was three times as big as the average one.

"Oh, f***!" Seras swallowed and reached for her missile launcher. "Alright! I'm gonna try to get a good shot of him from the entrance steps! You two may wanna stay back here!"

"Good idea!" replied Rip as Seras ran out towards the building. Next to that Behemoth, Rip's gun looked like it could be used as a toothpick.

At the top of the steps, Seras was able to get a good shot of the Behemoth. She fired, and the missile got it right in the back of its head.

Unfortunately it didn't seem to break the skin, and it only made the Behemoth angrier. And he was going to let Seras have it.

Walter surveyed the area and spotted a dead soldier by the fountain.

"That soldier has a Fat Man. Can you wield one of those?"

"No. I don't know how to handle firearms of that size!"

"Alright. Then if you can get it to Miss Victoria I might be able to distract that freak." Walter slipped away in the opposite direction where Seras was standing.

The giant monster charged towards Seras, but the Behemoth stopped. Walter had gotten his wires wrapped around its limbs. It wasn't slicing its limbs as quickly and cleanly as the others, but it was cutting into its flesh. It struggled in pain, and there was no way to hold back such a giant monster.

But it bought enough time for Rip to grab the Fat Man from the dead soldier.

"Seras!" she called out. "Catch!"

Rip tossed it over to her like it was a heavy rolled up sleeping bag, and Seras was nearly knocked off her feet when she caught it.

She had it fastened over her right shoulder, and Walter let go of the Behemoth.

Walter ran back to take cover as Rip did the same.

Seras fired a mini-nuke at the Behemoth's head, and it caused a small atomic explosion that shook up the plaza.

The Behemoth fell over. It was finally dead.

As everything settled down Walter and Rip peeked out from behind the debris. At the Radio Station steps Seras was frozen in shock and shaking all over. She dropped her weapon and fell to her knees. Poor thing. If there was a time when she _really_ needed some vacation time, it was now.


	17. Chapter 16

**Wild Geese Radio**

The group was allowed inside the Radio Station building. The former lobby seemed to have been fashioned into a small sort of military base for the Brotherhood with facilities for weapon and armor storage, and, of course, a clinic.

Walter was escorted to the medical facility, and the radio DJ wouldn't see them for another while.

Rip was left to meander about the area, so long as she didn't meddle with anything. The military setup didn't mesh well with the lobby's structure. Looked more like a mess than a sufficient base.

She passed by a doorway on the second floor landing, and while passing she saw Seras at the corner of her eye. And her commanding officer was on the verge of yelling.

"You deliberately disobeyed my orders and led the civilians away from the party. I have a right mind to dismiss you right now, Victoria."

Seras held her tongue. The truth was she wanted to tell him that the Brotherhood shouldn't be about dick-measuring contests with Super Mutants. That it should be about, you know, helping those in need. Like knights in armor are supposed to.

And the eavesdropping Rip was appalled at this. Doesn't taking down a Behemoth, saving God knows how many lives from its rampage, negate insubordination at least a little bit?

The commanding officer stormed out into the hall and he noticed Rip Van Winkle, who was now glaring at him. She wanted to give this jerk a piece of her mind, but she bit her tongue to keep herself quiet.

The officer walked away, and Rip through the doorway.

Seras hadn't even moved from where she was standing. She looked like she had been beaten down in every way except physically. She was silently crying.

She glanced over at Rip. "I just realized that if we hadn't taken that shortcut, the team would have been ambushed by that Behemoth." She sniffed. "And this is the bloody thanks I get for it…"

Rip reached into her pocket and offered her a handkerchief.

"No, thank you. What I really want now is a sledgehammer."

Rip's eyes widened, thinking Seras wanted to go melon-crazy on these jerks.

"I want to go out back, take this armor, and smash it into the little pieces of scrap metal it really is!"

She stormed out of the room and Rip followed. If she was really going to do something rash, she didn't want to miss out on the fun.

Fortunately that wasn't the case. She just went down to the locker room to shed her armor.

Underneath her armor Seras had a Vault jumpsuit on with the number 101 on her back.

"Where did you get that suit?" Rip asked.

"Hmm? Oh, this. I… actually left the Vault a few years ago."

"Just a few years ago?!" Rip was shocked. Someone else from Vault 101. "What happened down there?!"

Seras was a little surprised at this. "Wow, you're the first one to ask. Well, apparently the Vault-"

"Rip Van Winkle?" one of the knights interrupted. "Pip Bernadotte is about to take a break. He'll see you now."

"What?" Rip cried. "Aw, dammit. We'll talk more later."

She left the locker room but Seras followed, hopping as she tried to get her work boots on as fast as she could.

"Wait a minute!" she declared. "I'm coming with you!" She wiggled her foot into the other boot and chose to lace them up later. "I wanna see why the Brotherhood would flock to this place to begin with, besides the building being intact."

"If you insist," said the knight.

Rip and Seras were escorted up the stairs through the second floor landing and then up another long flight of stairs.

This station looked like it was inhabited by a college student. Food wrappers all over the floor when they weren't swept over towards the walls.

Sitting at the controls and with the microphone near his mouth was a man with long red hair tied back in a single braid. The manner in which he dressed made him look like he should have been acting as the sheriff in one of the Wasteland's settlements, right down to the hat. He glanced over his shoulder to look at his guests and he also had an eyepatch over his left eye and a bandaid across his nose.

"I just put on an episode of 'Daring Dashwood', so I've got about ten minutes," he said with a smirk. He really was the fellow with the French accent who spoke on the radio. "So, you two are the ladies who took down the Behemoth out front?"

"I'm actually here to discuss someone who might have stopped by here," said Rip. "A man in red with black hair? Really pale?"

"Hey," said Seras. "I was just gonna mention him! He broke out of the Vault!"

"What?!"

"Yeah, he came by," said Pip.

"He did?!" Rip and Seras cried at once.

"And I'd be glad to share that info if you do something for me," Pip added as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" cried Seras.

Rip didn't say anything. More favors…

"If you've been on the other side of the river you might have noticed my station doesn't reach out to a lot of listeners. I used to have this satellite dish broadcasting from the top of the Washington Monument, but somebody shot it down like it was a target at a shooting gallery. A witness said it was a stray missile from a fight between the Brotherhood and Super Mutants."

Seras scowled. "Gee, I wonder which side arms their soldiers with missile launchers."

"You want me to repair the satellite," Rip figured. "And how am I supposed to do that? Because I'm not the most technologically savvy person in this room."

"I don't know," said Pip. "Your Magic Bullets say otherwise."

 _Oh, dear Lord, he knows about that, too…_

"Me neither, sir," said Seras. "I'm not exactly the type who can fashion a powerful antennae out of forks and scrap metal."

 _Wait, who said you were coming with me?_ Rip thought as she looked over at the blonde woman.

"That's the beauty part," said Pip. "Right there in the Mall is the Museum of Technology, where they have the perfect satellite model from a lunar lander."

"Wait, you want us to dismantle the lunar lander?" Seras clarified. "But what about preserving our past history?"

"Girlie, that museum has been trashed top to bottom already by those uglies. We can worry about preserving history _after_ we've dealt with the Super Mutant infestation. Oh! Which, by the way, you'll need to watch out for when you get there! Ugly f***ers have pretty much taken over except for the Museum of Natural History."

Seras glared at Pip. "Don't call me 'girlie'."

"Why can't you just get someone from the Brotherhood to do it?" Rip pointed out. "They're certainly more equipped to handle hordes of Super Mutants."

Pip snorted. He glanced at the stairway hoping none of the Brotherhood was listening. "And risk another stray missile completely obliterating what's left of the Monument? I don't think so. Besides, it sounds like you handled that Behemoth freakishly well. I think you can get the job done."

The two ladies walked back down the stairs, and Seras said, "In that case we're going to need your friend's help again."

Rip wanted to tell Seras that she couldn't come with, but this lass was good with larger guns, so, again, it didn't seem like she had much of a choice.

Rip made her way to the medical facility to check on Walter.

He had just finished getting patched up with Stimpaks healing his wounds and all. With his back to her he was just getting his shirt back on and for a split-second Rip noticed there were marks across his back. Scars, no doubt. But from what?

But then one of the knights stood in front of Rip. "This is strictly private. Please, leave."

Rip backed away and sat down on a bench thinking, _Well, maybe you should replace the door then._

Walter stepped out clothed again, vest and all.

Seras returned and said, "I've been meaning to ask, sir. What's your name?"

"My name is Walter C. Dornez."

"So, how did you endure those gunshot wounds? Are you a vampire too?"

Rip bolted around. She had not expected Seras to say that.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Walter answered. He began pulling his hair back and asked, "So what did this Pip Bernadotte tell you?"

"He wants his radio satellite in the DC Mall to be fixed," Rip stated.

"In exchange for information about this vampire with black hair and wears red," said Seras.

Walter finished tying his hair back and nearly bolted around. His eyes were very sharp again. They didn't need to ask. He was coming with them.


End file.
